Few players have had the impact on the players of today that Allen Iverson did — everyone wanted his look, everyone wanted to emulate his fearless, attacking style.

His career ended in a bit of an awkward way, with fits and starts, but on Wednesday he made the end official.

“I’m formally announcing my retirement from basketball,” Iverson said in a press conference broadcast on Comcast Sportsnet Philly (and streamed live on CSNPhilly.com). “You know, I thought one this day came it would be basically a tragic day. I never imagined the day coming, but I knew it would come. I feel proud and happy to say that I’m happy with my decision and I feel great….

“It’s just a hard life to live. It’s a great one, I wouldn’t trade it for nothing. I have no regrets on anything. People ask me all the time, ‘Do I have any regrets?’ I don’t have any. If I could back and do it all over, would I change anything? No. Obviously if I could go back and change anything I would be a perfect man. And I know there’s no perfect man and there’s no perfect basketball player. So no, I wouldn’t change anything. My career was up and down at times. I made a lot of mistakes, a lot of things I’m not proud of. But it’s only from other people to learn from.”

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Iverson was reflective and grateful in the 10-minute talk, thanking Michael Jordan and Larry Brown for being key parts of his professional career. He also talked about Georgetown.

“I always believed in myself, my mom always told me I could be anything that I wanted to be,” Iverson said. “I truly actually believed it. I fought. I went through a whole lot, trying to get to this point right here. [Former Georgetown] Coach [John] Thompson gave me an opportunity when nobody in the world would and believed in me. Basically saved my life and helped my dream come true.”

He showed off his sense of humor.

“You used to think the suspect was the guy with the corn rows, now you see the police officers with the corn row,” he said.

We’ve known this was coming for a while — frankly a lot of his fans seemed to know the end was there before Iverson himself did.

However that shouldn’t alter our opinion of a future first-ballot Hall of Famer — an 11-time All-Star who averaged 26.7 points, 6.2 assists and 2.2 steals a game in his 13-year career. His game had a lot of substance but you can’t think of Iverson without the style — the tattoos (before everybody had them), the cornrows, his fearless attacking style and ability to finish over guys a foot taller than him. That style made him one of the most entertaining players of his generation. He led the charge to bring a hip-hop culture to the game and young African-Americans in particular related to him in a way they did not with other stars.

He changed the game. He should be celebrated and will be tonight in Philadelphia as the Sixers tip off their season.

I don’t remember playing tonight. I didn’t play. Guys get a lot of money to be ready to play. No Knute Rockne speeches. It’s your job. If you’re a plumber and you don’t do your job, you don’t get any work. I don’t think a plumber needs a pep talk. If a doctor botches operations, he’s not a doctor anymore. If you’re a basketball player, you come ready. It’s called maturity. It’s your job.

Like it or not, motivation is part of an NBA coach’s job.

But that’s also precisely what Popovich is doing.

His credentials dwarf any other coach’s. He can play to his own ego and absolve himself of responsibility – and players will seek to please him. His years of success have earned him the ability to motivate this way, a method no other coach could use without alienating his team.

So, why not hold Motiejunas to what became a four-year, $31 million offer sheet once matched? Houston got something in return – a later trigger date on guaranteeing Motiejunas’ 2017-18 salary. Originally, that decision had to be made March 1 – which would’ve meant dropping Motiejunas from the team this season to prevent his salary from counting next season. Now, the Rockets can make that call in July, after this season is complete.

The following two Julys, Houston will also have a choice on guaranteeing Motiejunas’ upcoming salary or dropping him.

Essentially, Motiejunas is signing the most lucrative Hinkie Special in NBA history. If he plays well and stays healthy, the Rockets have Motiejunas at an affordable rate. If he struggles or his back injuries flare up, they can drop him with little to no penalty.

After they backed themselves into this corner, Motiejunas and his agent, B.J. Armstrong, didn’t do so bad. Considering the similarity between this contract and the Nets’ original offer sheet, it seems Houston helped Armstrong save face after a bungled free agency (which is easier to accept when you’re adding a talented reserve to a formidable team).

But for how little is guaranteed and how much control the Rockets hold over the next four years, wouldn’t Motiejunas have been better off accepting the $4,433,683 qualifying offer?

This means Motiejunas can’t sign with the Nets, who signed him to the original offer sheet, for one year.

I bet it also means Motiejunas and Houston have agreed to a new contract. Otherwise, why release him from the offer sheet? The Rockets would be giving up a tremendous amount of leverage out of the goodness of their hearts – unless this is just a prelude to a new deal with Houston.